


Fear on Fire

by below_the_starry_clusters_bright



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Gen, Nightmares, Not Fluff, spiky, this is a fic of spike, what is the opposite of fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 18:49:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8856832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/below_the_starry_clusters_bright/pseuds/below_the_starry_clusters_bright
Summary: Rey has yet to learn how to shield her dreams, leaving Kylo Ren the opportunity to stroll through her sleeping mind and tear everything into nightmares.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, this is a product of long-haul flights, jetlag, work stress, and an unhealthy adoration of Reylo. The first chapter is really more of a prologue, hence its shortness and complete lack of explanation for anything. The title is from an excellent Ruelle song. Please heed the tags. Enjoy!

 “What about the droid?”

 Rey slants a downwards look at the BB unit idling by her side. “What about him?”

 “I’ll pay for him.” Unkar Plutt’s words are underscored with _Obviously_ , but Rey is too busy staring at the fat fists he slams down onto the countertop to care. “Sixty portions!”

 Rey’s eyes widen. It’s more than triple the amount of food she has ever seen in one place before. She lurches forwards, snatching at the sachets as though they’re temporary.

  _They are_ , she realises as she levels another, longer look at the droid. _Nothing I can find on Jakku will ever match this._

 She wouldn’t have to worry about going hungry for a good long while. Unkar’s thugs would ensure she kept bringing in scavenged spoils, but her daily climbs would lack their usual edge of desperation. The next time she’s brought low by sickness or injury – as she knows she will be, for Jakku is cruel to its inhabitants – she can rely on a stockpiled supply of food rather than lie awake wracked by hunger pains.

 She doesn’t owe the droid anything. It would find its way back home eventually. Besides, she couldn’t help it even if she wanted to. Every useful piece of information it could give her was classified. Refusing Plutt’s offer would leave her with an empty stomach and a droid that’s programmed to be unhelpful. Not to mention the beating the Crolute would ensure she received for refusing him what he believes is his due. He’s done it enough times in the past.

 No, Rey decides. It’s better for everyone involved if she takes Plutt’s offer. She sweeps the portions ( _Sixty!_ ) into her arms and studiously avoids looking at the droid. It knocks against her calves and pitches its intonations into questions. Rey sidesteps it, and doesn’t look back as the droid’s affronted beeps turn into shriller, more panicked whistles.

 She treads the sand as though she had been born to it. Other scavengers – rivals, not fellows, certainly not friends – stare at the treasure she carries. She quickens her pace; her reputation as a fierce fighter will only protect her for so long when there are this many portions at stake.

 If Rey had been someone else, she might have thought about sharing her food. As it is, she has never shared a meal in all her time on Jakku and doesn’t intend to start now.

 “This is who you are,” murmurs a voice at her side. She turns to it but her eyes won’t settle on anything other than a formless black mass. Its identity doesn’t seem terribly important, and so Rey faces forward again. “You need to look out for yourself. No one else will.”

 The shade is right. Generosity is a foreign word on Jakku. Its closest translation can be found in the moments Unkar Plutt gives a fair amount of portions for the scrap being offered.

 “No one is ever coming for you,” the shade continues. Its words are ugly but its voice – there’s something in that soft tone that’s hard to ignore. “You will always be alone.”

 Rey nods and tightens her grip on her prize. The shade has not finished. Its voice is smooth even as it issues commands.

 “Say it.”

 “I will always be alone,” Rey repeats, obedient.

 The shade disappears into the still air. Rey continues her long trudge back to her hollow home, although she wakes from the dream before she can reach it.

* * *

  
 Across the galaxy, Kylo Ren rouses slowly from his meditation. If he still thought himself capable of satisfaction, it would lace the slight curve of his lips.


End file.
